Stalag 17

Composite Score: 87.2

Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Richard Erdman, Peter Graves, Sig Ruman, William Pierson, and Gil Stratton

Director: Billy Wilder

Writers: Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum

Genres: Comedy, Drama, War, Espionage, Prison

MPAA Rating: Approved

Box Office: $10.00 million worldwide

My take on Watching This Film:

                Stalag 17 is Billy Wilder’s film adaptation of the play of the same name by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski about the experiences of a group of POWs during World War II in the titular German prison camp, based on the experiences of Bevan and Trzcinski themselves. The film features an ensemble of characters that have since become archetypal in POW films, led by William Holden as the cool, independent operator J.J. Sefton, along with Richard Erdman as the de facto leader of the prisoners “Hoffy” Hoffman, Peter Graves as his second-in-command Frank Price, Robert Strauss and Harvey Lembeck as the clowns of the group “Animal” Kuzawa and Harry Shapiro, Don Taylor as new arrival Lt. James Dunbar, Sig Ruman as their bumbling guard Sgt. Schulz, and Otto Preminger as the stalag commandant Col. von Scherbach. It’s a fascinating watch as a film that essentially launched a genre of film and television in the POW subgenre. Films like The Great Escape and television shows like Hogan’s Heroes draw directly on archetypes and storylines from this film and the play on which it is based. In this way, Stalag 17 has made its mark on film history as a fun war film that skillfully walks the line of comedy and espionage thriller as the men have to sus out which of them is secretly passing information to their Nazi captors, sabotaging any attempts at escape that they manage to put together. Though I personally wish that the reveal had been handled in a more suspenseful way, the mystery leading up to it and the characters surrounding it make for a strongly entertaining film. William Holden even won an Oscar for his portrayal as the loner having to defend himself from accusations of spying. It’s a decent performance that definitely stands out as the film’s strongest, but part of me does believe that his win was helped by the splitting of votes in his category that year between the two leads for Best Picture winner From Here to Eternity and between the two Roman period characters up for The Robe and Julius Caesar. Don’t get me wrong, he plays cool really well, I just don’t know if it’s necessarily one of the best acting performances of all time. Overall, Stalag 17 made its mark on film history with its introduction of the popular audience to the POW subgenre of war films, giving us iconic characters and a fun story as it earned a spot among the greats. Some of the familiarity of its story and the lack of tension in some key moments might hold it down on some all-time lists, but it’s certainly still a film worth checking out if only for the comedy bits. Currently, this film is available on the Roku channel or Kanopy for free or to rent on most other streaming services if you’d like to watch it yourself.